1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to devices for the extermination of rodents. More specifically, the present invention is a device for the injection of a flammable gas into burrows of rodents and the subsequent detonation of said gas, thereby eradicating the rodents.
2. Related Art
Burrowing rodents are well know for making underground passageways, referred to as burrows, and holes extending from these burrows to the surface of the ground. Burrowing rodents cause many problems for property owners, farmers and ranchers. Burrowing rodents cause: damage to growing crops, lumber and landscapes by destroying plant root systems and eating vegetation; damage to canals and other waterways by digging holes through the sides of such waterways, resulting in lost water rights and flooding; wear and tear on equipment (such as tractors) which often need to drive across burrow and hole pockmarked fields; increased erosion; and physical harm to humans and animals who accidentally step within rodent holes or whose steps break through the surface of the ground, breaking through to a burrow causing injury to the human or animal unlucky enough to step in such.
Burrowing rodents being pests and causing such damage has resulted in property owners, ranchers and farmers eradicating the rodents themselves or paying to have the rodents eradicated. Such "rodents" including: prairie dogs, gophers, and ground squirrels.
Known exterminating apparatuses and methods for eliminating rodents include the use of traps and poisons. However, the use of traps has been found to be both uneconomical and unreliable, and the use of poisons is not desirable due to the effects on the environment and effects on other animals which eat poison coated vegetation, eat living rodents who have consumed some amount of the poison, and even scavengers which eat the carcasses of rodents killed through the use of such poison.
Inefficiencies and problems with the prior ways of exterminating rodents lead to the invention of a gas fired apparatus for discharging an inflammable gaseous vapor into the rodents' burrows and igniting the mixture, such as is shown in Rombach et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,976. However, drawbacks in the technology shown in Rombach et al. include a lack of portability, a need for greater simplicity, the failure to use safety devices such as a check valve or a pressure sensor, and the lack of the use of an oxygen source in conjunction with the inflammable gas.
Another known invention was discovered by the inventors, and discussed further infra. The invention comprises a rodent extermination device having both oxygen and inflammable gas inputs, but failing to have safety devices, such as a check valve or pressure sensor. This prior art version also utilized an ignitor requiring the use of an automobile or automobile battery in order supply the required electrical current. Such a requirement greatly reduced the portability of the device.
What is needed is a gas fired apparatus for discharging a mixture of inflammable gas and oxygen vapors into rodents' burrows and igniting the mixture that also has the safety features of a pressure sensor and having an improved ignition system.